Sniffles' Invention
by MuffinHTF
Summary: When an invention of Sniffles' goes haywire, the nerdy anteater is sent to a mental institue. Is Sniffles insane, or is something bigger happening?
1. Chapter 1

**My first fanfiction! As my first, i'm using only official HTF characters, sorry O.C's!**

**Muffin: But! But!**

**Nope, sorry Muffin. Anyways. Let's get this show on the road.**

**Sniffles' Invention**

The hours ticked slowly by as a periwinkle colored anteater worked into the night. His invention was almost complete, and soon he would show it off at the inventor's convention and finally win first prize! Every year he entered with an amazing machine that worked against the very laws of physics, but every time he presented it, the judges would just laugh at him, saying that he was suggesting the impossible and walked on without giving him a chance to prove himself. Not this year. Sniffles worked tirelessly and after a few more hours of screw tightening, program altering, and 10 cups of coffee, it was done.

"Yes! I've finally done it! A machine that will change the way we look at life!" Sniffles jumped up and down excitedly, as if he were Nutty after a candy store raid. '_I must show everyone this!_' Sniffles thought eagerly, but his watch said otherwise. 3:47 A.M. Sniffles' stomach dropped in disappointment, he would have to wait till sunrise, until then, he would get some much needed and deserved rest. He threw a white tarp over his creation and scuttled off to his room, as proud as a nerdy anteater could be.

Sniffles was awakened two and a half hours later by his alarm clock blasting '_Lola' by the Kinks_, just at the break of dawn. He loved that song, but hearing the repetitive chorus blasting against his ear drums after two hours of sleep wasn't exactly the most peaceful thing to wake up to. Sniffles slammed his fist against the snooze button, and fumbled for his glasses, accidently knocking over a bottle of water on his nightstand (which, luckily, was closed). Sniffles sat up in his bed, mind groggy and muffled. His room was decorated with prototypes of various devices and machines he had invented over the years and pictures and trophies of science contests he'd entered hung on all four walls. His house altogether was very different from his friends' houses. Instead of a home carved into the trunk of a large, alive tree, Sniffles' house was made completely of metal, branches and all.

As his mind cleared, Sniffles suddenly remembered: his invention! He hurried to the bottom floor of his metallic tree house, where the kitchen was, and quickly downed a cup of black coffee, not noticing how incredibly bitter it was. Sniffles wasted no time as he rushed out the door, he had to find his friends and tell them about this invention of his!

About an hour later, 15 very confused and _very_ tired Tree Friends were huddled together in Sniffles' laboratory. Toothy, Cuddles, Giggles, and Nutty were all gathered up front. Russell, Flippy, Mime, Petunia, and Lumpy, were all trapped in the middle of the group. And in the very back were Handy, Flaky, the raccoon twins Lifty and Shifty, and Pop with his infant son, Cub.

Curious chatter rose from the group as an excited Sniffles wheeled his machine into the room, tarp still covering it. The mysterious creation towered above the anteater at a good 15 feet.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming at such an early hour." Sniffles began as the chatter ceased, "This invention is by far the most complex I have ever created. It defies the very laws of physics and will leave you speechless as-"

"What is it already?" Toothy yelled, annoyed. He hadn't abandoned his warm, cozy home to listen to an anteater give a speech. Sniffles cleared his throat and began again.

"This, my friends, is the beginning of a whole new era of science! This-"Sniffles grabbed the white tarp and yanked, "is the Memory Spy 5000!" a gasp of shock escaped the crowd as the strange machine was revealed. The first thing that was noticed was the large, glass tube. The tube itself stood ten feet high and was at least five feet in width. A large door had been cut into the thick glass, only noticeable by the three, intricate metal hatches that held it shut. A small, silver chair sat in the cylinder, nailed to the floor by large screws. Next to the enormous tube was a slightly taller machine. It had a complex set of buttons, levers, switches and knobs on all sides, with a large keyboard sticking out in front. A large, flat screen monitor sat above the keyboard. It was so large that it could be seen with ease even if you were in the very back of the group.

"This machine allows us to see into the minds of anyone we choose." Sniffles pulled out a pair of bulky headphones, "These wireless headphones send waves into the brain, scanning the vast storage of memories in that person, and it then sends the data to this computer. The machine translates the waves into images through a complex system, and shows them on this monitor!" Jaws dropped as the crowd gasped once again. Sniffles had invented some crazy devices, but nothing like this!

"Would anyone like to try it?" Sniffles asked, unlocking the glass door, which slowly swung open.

"Is it dangerous?" Handy yelled from the back.

"Not at all! The waves given out by these technologically advanced headphones are completely harmless to the natural functions of the typical brain." Sniffles responded with certainty. Cuddles, the yellow, skater bunny, suddenly got very excited, raised his hand in the air and waved it around.

"I'll try it! I'll try it! Some of my best stunts were when no one was around!" The yellow bunny shouted excitedly. Before Sniffles could respond, Cuddles had already snatched the headphones out of his hands, sat down in the chair, and slipped the headphones over his long ears. Sniffles closed the glass door and shut the hatches. He typed a few keys into the keyboard and put his hand on a lever. Cuddles gave the thumbs up sign.

"Wait, has this ever been tested before?" Giggles asked, worried.

"Well I, uh….No." Sniffles pulled the lever.

**Not bad for chapter 1 if i do say so myself! But I would love other opinions! **


	2. Chapter 2

**What happens when you stay up all night writing? Chapter 2, that's what happens! Enjoy.**

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"Well I, uh….No." Sniffles pulled the lever. Lights began going off all over the machine and Cuddles flinched. A few seconds later, the screen flickered and a clear image appeared. Everyone recognized it as the skate park on the left side of town. Being Cuddles' memory, the video was in a first person view and all they could see was a red skateboard leaning unsteadily on the edge of a huge half pipe. Inside the tube, Cuddles frowned. He was trying to remember the time he did that awesome double back flip off a dock into the lake, but why was he remembering _this_ day? Cuddles tried to focus, but he couldn't control his thoughts. The screen flickered a few times and the skateboard tipped off the edge of the half pipe, at first, things were going smoothly, but as Cuddles reached the bottom of the ramp, his skate board started swerving. Suddenly, the board launched off the side of the ramp, sending Cuddles flying and he landed on the hard concrete with loud crunching noise. The screen went blank. The group watching the monitor gasped and Giggles went pale.

Cuddles stepped out of the tube and suddenly felt faint. Giggles was immediately by his side and helped him back to the group.

"What was it like? Did it hurt?" Toothy asked.

"No, not really, I just don't know why I remembered that day. That's the day I broke my right leg remember?" Cuddles replied. Sniffles jotted down something on a notepad and typed some keys into the keyboard.

"Does anyone else want to try?" Sniffles turned back to the group. Everyone appeared too nervous to step forward, it just seemed too dangerous.

"I want to see what goes on in Flippy's twisted mind!" Lifty chuckled. Flippy went pale.

"Aw, c'mon Flippy! What are you? Chicken?" Shifty laughed.

"I'm not doing it, leave me alone!" The war veteran bear yelled. He didn't want anyone else to see the horrible things he'd seen. Even thinking about it made his vision blurry. Lifty began mocking Flippy by making annoying clucking noises and flapping his arms like an idiot while Shifty was rolling on the ground, clutching his sides with laughter. Flippy's face went red with rage and embarrassment.

"Look! He's redder than Flaky! He IS chicken!" Shifty roared with laughter.

"FINE! I'll do it if it will shut you two up!" Flippy yelled and stormed over to the massive machine. He slipped the headphones over his ears, not caring to remove his beret, and sat down in the chair with a huff. Sniffles closed the door and made sure the hatches were shut extra securely. The tube was made of gorilla glass, but if the machine triggered Flippy's evil side, Fliqpy, they would have to be prepared. Before Sniffles pulled the lever, he loaded a strange looking gun with ice cubes and leaned it against his invention. He put his hand on the lever and looked at Flippy, who in return nodded his head. Sniffles pulled the lever.

Once again, lights began going off on all sides of the machine. Flippy shuddered; it felt like someone was sticking uncooked spaghetti noodles into his ears. He looked around the tube, it was completely soundproof but he could clearly see that Lifty and Shifty were still having a ball over their idiotic jokes. Flippy was ashamed of himself, he had let two thieving, no good, raccoon twins pressure him into this. But he hardly had time to think on the subject, he suddenly felt his memories resurface, as if they had happened yesterday. The first memory that came to mind was a therapy session he went to a few years ago, shortly after the war. Outside the tube, Mime pretended to yawn and the raccoon brothers had started a new string of jokes about the war bear. Not much was going on, the monitor just showed a view of Flippy staring at the ceiling of some building, talking about his experience in the war with an unseen psychiatric doctor. Suddenly, the image flickered and a view of a jungle appeared. Flippy was running through thick brush, others dressed in war uniform were running past him, but two soldiers always kept by Flippy's side: A tan mouse with a long, French moustache carrying a large backpack full of explosives and a large, green chameleon that was jumping from tree to tree.

Inside the tube, Flippy had broken out in a sweat. Memories of his last days in war were surfacing, memories he had long ago suppressed, memories that he had vowed never to think of, and he had kept that vow till now. Why was he remembering this day? He had enough therapy under his belt to know how to control his thoughts, but for some reason, this memory kept coming back.

On the monitor, Flippy and the French mouse dove into nearby bushes and the chameleon camouflaged as open fire unleashed upon the group. Automatically, several soldiers fell to the ground. Lifty and Shifty suddenly stopped laughing and stared at the screen with horrified, transfixed stares just like the rest of the group (save for Lumpy, who thought they were watching a war movie and was now searching the laboratory for popcorn). As the video continued, the memory was noticeably growing less vivid in Flippy's mind. There was little or no color to the rest of the group and the jungle was just a single shade of forest green. More and more gunshots were heard and more and more soldiers fell. Flippy began to panic.

Flippy tugged at the headphones but unless he didn't want his ears ripped off, the headphones were staying put. Suddenly, an all too familiar voice appeared in his head.

_The enemies are surrounding us, Flippy. Let me take control. _

Inside Flippy's mind the thick layer of good memories, years of therapy, and meditation began to peel away as if it had never existed. An evil, darker, more sinister being took control. Flippy began to go numb; he couldn't feel his limbs, his tongue felt heavy, and his eyes started to droop. The voice cackled maniacally, it was an ugly laugh, full of hatred, evil, and bloodlust. Flippy clutched his head in pain, struggling to pry the headphones from his ears, but it was too late. His eyes turned to an ominous, golden yellow color and every one of his teeth became as sharp as daggers. The kind, good natured war veteran was no longer in control of his own body. The dark side of his soul, the one only seen in war, the blood thirsty killer had taken his place. Standing inside the tube, to the horror of all who was watching, was not Flippy, but what the other Tree Friends called, Fliqpy.

Sniffles gave a yelp in terror and franticly began typing in a series of keys, trying desperately to control the machine. The group stood there in shock, Flippy had transformed into this…creature before, and the town was still recovering from the trauma.

Lifty and Shifty knew trouble when they saw it and bolted for the door, they were quickly followed by Pop, Cub, Petunia, and Russell. The rest, on the other hand, just stood there gaping at the raging monster that was attacking the thick glass with a large Bowie knife. The green bear had eyes of glinting yellow and an evil scowl was worked to his face, he roared and screamed as he hacked at the glass with his knife. A small crack appeared in the surface of the tube.

"J-just remain calm everyone! I'll have this under c-control in no time!" Sniffles stuttered, his small fingers racing as fast as they could over the keyboard. He glanced over at the war bear and gasped in horror, the headphones that he had programmed and built _himself_, the headphones that had taken him months alone to construct, lay on the floor of the tube in two pieces. Fliqpy had snapped the nearly indestructible plastic on the bridge of the headset. Sniffles, usually such a cool and collected anteater, felt white hot rage starting to boil his blood. He quickly switched to plan B and nearly punched a large red button that was hidden carefully underneath the keyboard, quickly shutting down the entire machine. He seized his strange, sci-fi like gun and pointed it at the glass chamber. Fliqpy would see just how powerful a geeky anteater could be.

A sudden crash echoed through the lab and shattered glass flew in all directions. The war bear leapt out of what remained of the glass tube and studied his surroundings, a pathetic looking yellow bunny was the first thing he noticed. Fliqpy lunged at the petrified Cuddles, his Bowie knife pointed at the yellow bunny's throat. Cuddles screamed and dropped to floor in an act of instinct and waited for the blow. It never came. Cuddles wearily looked up and saw a frightening sight: Fliqpy was still in mid-air, ready to kill, but he seemed…stuck.

Sniffles still held the gun pointed at Fliqpy, vapor pouring out of the funnel-like barrel. The rage on the anteater's face was unlike anything Cuddles had ever seen. Behind his thick glasses, Sniffles' eyes were laced with fury, he had worked for months on that machine and this bear had nearly destroyed it in just ten minutes! He walked casually over to the frozen bear, who was still hanging mid-air, and tapped a frozen ear lightly. Fliqpy abruptly crashed to the ground, shattering into a million pieces. The only thing that remained that was not shattered or bloody was Fliqpy's precious Bowie knife.

The group stared at Sniffles in frozen shock as Cuddles slowly arose from the ground. The still enraged anteater leaned the gun against a table and began to examine the damage to his precious invention. Cuddles stared at the shattered remains of his attacker and suddenly felt nauseous.

"W-was that really necessary?" Cuddles blurted out.

"It was either him or you." Sniffles replied coldly, not bothering to turn around.

"B-but you d-didn't have to k-k-kill him!" Flaky sobbed in fear. Sniffles spun around, an angry glare chiseled on his face, "What else could I do, Flaky?" Sniffles yelled, "He would have killed you all! Besides, you know how the curse works! He'll be back soon enough." As much as Flaky wanted to argue with Sniffles' logic, she knew he was right. Some years ago, a strange curse had been placed on the entire town, causing all of the residents to die in unsuspected, painful, and sometimes full on _impossible _ways. But no matter how or how many times they were killed, a few hours later they would wake up perfectly fine in their own homes.

A strong smell of burnt popcorn filled the air as a tall blue moose walked into the room, holding a large bowl.

"Hey! I found popcorn!" Lumpy exclaimed, "Whoa, what happened here? The weather didn't call for snow." Lumpy stared dumbly at the pile of bloody ice and Toothy smacked his forehead with his hand.

"Well, unless you want to assist me in cleaning this catastrophe, I benevolently request you all to depart from my laboratory" Sniffles announced, not bothering to "dumb down his words" as Toothy put it, for the group. The small crown disappeared quickly after that and Sniffles reluctantly grabbed a broom.

**Sniffles can be a tough little anteater when he wants to be! Anyways, Chapter 3 will be here soon. Very soon, today maybe. Or not, depends on how much sugar I have.**

**Muffin: Get on with it...**

**Fine fine! Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The sugar famine has ended! New chapters shall rain from the skies and gummy bears will come by the cartloads! Enjoy!**

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A few days after the incident with Sniffles' invention, a loud knock came at the anteater's door. Sniffles, who was busy reprogramming the newly fixed headset, groaned loudly and set his screw driver down to answer the door. Standing outside was The Mole, a purple colored blind mole, and Lumpy, the idiotic blue moose. Both had large police badges pinned to their shirts and looked very stern.

"Sniffles the...anteater?" Lumpy asked

"Lumpy, you know who I am." The annoyed anteater replied.

"Your inventions have proven…uh…harmful to the towns…safety. And…um…we have come to the…conclusion that your mind is not…uh…sane enough to live freely in this town." Lumpy said slowly as he read off of a messy looking note card.

"A-are you telling me you think I'm insane?" Sniffles spat, he had never heard anything more ridiculous in his life!

"Sorry, but you are required to stay within a mental institute until you are confirmed healthy." The Mole said.

"Are you two idiotic? I am perfectly fine! That demented war bear is the one to blame!"

"We will take you by force if…forced." Lumpy spat back, The Mole fumbled for a second and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Sniffles stepped backwards.

"Y-you can't do that!" the anteater stuttered, shocked beyond belief.

"The town decided on it last night at a meeting. Your machines have gotten too advanced." Lumpy lunged forward and tackled Sniffles to the ground as The Mole snapped the handcuffs onto his wrists, in the process cracking the frame of Sniffles' glasses. As they dragged the anteater to an awaiting police cruise, a mysterious figure vanished back into the brush of the surrounding woods.

Sniffles banged his fist against the heavy metal door of his small cell; still unbelieving that he had been sent to a crazy house, by who he thought were his friends. He slumped down on a bench, the only piece of furniture in the small cell, and put his head in his hands. Sniffles' inventions had proven to be dangerous at times and had even killed a few of his friends, but never had the town showed any signs of resenting him. Tears began to form in the corner of his eyes. Did the town really hate him that much? W-was he actually _insane?_ A mad scientist even? That couldn't be true, Lumpy killed more Tree Friends a day than Sniffles had his entire _life, _and Lumpy was never sent to an asylum! But… Tears began rolling down his face, staining his glasses, as Sniffles suddenly realized: _He was alone now._

Meanwhile, Flippy was making his way over to Sniffles metallic tree house. He was hoping to earn the anteater's forgiveness for the outburst he had a few days before. As he turned the last corner to Sniffles' house, he was nearly knocked over by the hyperactive green squirrel, Nutty. Nutty's neon green fur was matted in several places and candy was stuck in multiple places on his head and chest. Nutty was shivering violently from his extreme sugar high and giggling like a maniac. Flippy helped him off the ground and began to apologize but was cut off by the frenzied squirrel.

"HEY! Flippy! Ha ha! Have you-heh-seen Sniffles anywhere? Ha ha ha! Everyone is looking for him! But- hee hee! - NO one can find him!" Nutty said rapidly, still shivering.

"Actually, I was just heading over to his house to apologize. Do you mean he disappeared?" Flippy asked, concerned. Nutty had started to reply, but another burst of sugar fueled energy kicked in and Nutty burst out in wild laughter, causing him to fall on the ground. Flippy rolled his eyes and stepped over the green squirrel, and continued on to Sniffles' house.

Flippy knocked briskly on the metallic door, snapped his heels together and straightened his shoulders purely out of habit. After a few moments with no one answering the door Flippy peered into some of the windows and saw no evidence of the anteater being there recently. He suddenly felt a twinge of guilt, had _he_ been the one to drive Sniffles from his home? Flippy shook his head; Sniffles had been a victim of Fliqpy's rampages in the past. If Sniffles was afraid of him, he would have left long ago.

"Flippy! Have you seen Sniffles? He said he would help me today." A voice from behind asked. Flippy turned to see Handy, the orange carpenter beaver. Handy always wore a bright yellow hard hat and a constructor's tool belt with a small hammer and screwdriver. The only thing that really stuck out as different was the fact that Handy was an amputee; he had lost both of his hands in some untold accident prior to moving to Happy Tree Town, and yet he was still the most skilled carpenter for miles around.

"No, Nutty said that he disappeared, but I was checking for myself." Flippy replied. He didn't bother mentioning that he came to apologize in the first place.

"Strange, I've heard rumors going around that Sniffles was arrested last night."

"Arrested? For what?

"How would I know? You can get arrested in this town for anything!" Handy put simply.

"Oh, well, thanks for the tip, Handy."

"Any time, Flips." Handy waved his arm stub in farewell and strolled off in the opposite direction. Flippy cringed at being called "Flips" He hated that nickname.

If Sniffles really was arrested last night, the town would have held a meeting about it and Flippy would have been present. Flippy made a left turn from Sniffles' home and started off at a hurried pace to town hall. But something didn't seem right…

"Yar! What do you MEAN I can't fish in the lake?" Russell slammed his hooked hand down on the long, wooden table in town hall. Three figures sat around the end of the table: Russell, the turquoise sea otter pirate, Pop, the tan father bear, who was still wearing his red robe. And finally, at the head of the table, Splendid the super squirrel. His dark blue fur accompanied by a bright crimson mask, the only thing keeping his identity a secret.

"Because the fish in that lake need time to repopulate and breed." Splendid replied his ears twitching with annoyance. The sea otter pirate grew even more enraged.

"I make a livin' off those fish! Ye can't expect me to pull money out of fish bones!"

"What about your fast-food restaurant? That seemed to be going over well." Pop suggested.

"Ye know as well as I do that I can't show my face in the fast-food biz again, thanks to that Mime!" Russell spat, "And not all of us can make our livin' just by flying around and messin' up everything!" Russell pointed his hook at the super hero.

"ENOUGH!" Splendid roared, he brought his fist down on the table, splintering wood could be heard as the table shuddered under Splendid's super strength. Russell and Pop flinched, Splendid rarely got this agitated over anything. Splendid settled back down in his seat.

"Forgive me; rumors are going around that I am growing weaker. It must be affecting my attitude." Splendid apologized.

"I'm just saying that fishing is the only thing I can-" Russell was cut off as the double doors burst open and an angry purple beaver stormed in, followed by The Mole, who was tapping in front of him blindly with his aiming stick, and Lumpy, who had no idea what was going on.

"Will you tell me just what the HECK is going on?" Toothy yelled as he approached the table. The trio replied with looks of puzzlement, which only angered the buck-toothed beaver further.

"Mole here says you had him and Lumpy _arrest _Sniffles last night!"

"Arrest? I don't recall such a thing." Pop said, still confused.

"Mole, just what is going on?" said Splendid. In a town this small, and this cursed, being arrested was no small deal. Even the thieving raccoon twins got off the hook most of the time.

"Well," The Mole began, "You came to the police station last night requesting that Sniffles be arrested and that the entire town had agreed on it. Lumpy and I were the only ones on duty at the time."

"I never went to the police station last night…" Splendid whispered.

"Nonsense! I can recognize a voice when I hear it!" Mole replied.

"Yeah! You weren't fooling anyone in that getup!" Lumpy said stupidly. Everyone stared at him.

"Getup? What are you talking about, Lumpy?" Mole asked, accidently facing a coat rack.

"Splendid looked different than he usually does, you didn't notice?" Lumpy asked The Mole, who replied with a face-palm.

"What _exactly_ did Splendid look like when he walked in?" Pop asked an urgent tone to his voice.

"Well…he had a tail, and two ears….oh, and two feet as well…and-"

"Please be more specific" Splendid put his head in his hands.

"Oh, well he looked pretty much the same, it's just his colors were different. I guess a strange kind of fashion is going around town." The blue moose replied. Splendid went pale.

"D-different how?" The others had to strain to hear Splendid's whispers. It was around that time that Flippy burst through the door, soaked from head to toe from a sudden downpour. He stopped for a minute to catch his breath.

"Ack! I just had… this jacket… dry-cleaned!" Flippy said between breaths, "So, I came by… to ask… about Sniffles…"

"You came at the perfect time! Splendid here was just going to explain why he had Sniffles arrested last night." Toothy huffed, still aggravated. Flippy quickly put two and two together and stared dumbfounded at the superhero. Splendid had messed up in the past, but he would never send a Tree Friend to jail without a real purpose. Splendid's face was growing paler as he stared at the center of the table, a concentrated frown sat behind his crimson mask.

"Lumpy…tell me…_exactly _what colors were I when you saw me?" Splendid glanced at the moose. Lumpy thought hard, he was beginning to get a headache, he hadn't thought his hard in a long time.

"Uh….I think your mask was blue…. and your fur was red….it was like you switched colors! Is that one of your superpowers?" Lumpy asked idiotically. Splendid's hands began to shake.

"B-but it be nay a problem right?" Russell stuttered, "We can just take the young lad out of jail and everythins' solved."

"Well, that's the thing, Sniffles isn't _in_ the jail house." The Mole said, his voice muffled by his oversized turtleneck. All eyes turned to the purple mole, who began to sweat bullets. He hated being the center of attention. Even though he was fully blind, Mole could tell when all attention was directed to him. It was similar to the feeling you get when a person walks into a room when your back is turned.

"Then where is he?" Pop asked

"Well," Mole started, "Splendid gave us very specific directions on where to take Sniffles. He told us that a prison would just add to his mind's illness and informed us to take him to a mental insti-"

"We sent him to the _asi-lumb_!" Lumpy interrupted, half-remembering the word he couldn't think of, The Mole nodded.

Splendid abruptly rose from his seat and the chair tumbled backwards. He jumped off the ground and began gliding quickly to the large double doors.

"Hey! Where do ye think you be headed? There's a storm a brewin'!" Russell said, "My whiskers are twitchin'!"

"Something's wrong._ Very _wrong." Splendid replied darkly.

"What? Why?" asked Flippy

"Because," Splendid turned around, his face stained with worry and fear, "this town doesn't _have_ and asylum!"

**Is Splendid just switching up fashion, or has something, or someone, reappeared? Who would want Sniffles in an asylum in the first place? Will the Memory Spy 5000 ever be fixed? Will Russell be able to fish in the lake? Will Petunia get her first lines in the story?**

**Muffin: Will you EVER stop asking questions? You're spoiling the suspense!**

**Just let me have my fun! Ugh... ANYWAYS!**

**Reviews are always greatly appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Muffin: Hey guys! I noticed how lacking this story was of cookies so I went ahead and changed the entire plot line to cookies! Isn't that awesome?**

**Me: Muffin! That's it, get back to your own story! Sorry guys, I've changed the plot line back, cookies don't make for a very good plot line. **

**Anyways, here's Chapter 4 Enjoy!**

Sniffles carved a short line into the concrete wall with his fingernail; it had been officially 24 hours since he'd been sentenced to this god awful room. And for reasons he still did not understand. Suddenly, a small metal flap at the base of the heavy cell door swung open and a tray of food was abruptly kicked through. Sniffles caught a glimpse of a red foot and his immediate thought turned to the red she-porcupine, Flaky, the only red colored Tree Friend.

"Flaky? Is that you?" Sniffles said, desperation to hear his friend's timid voice grew steadily. There was no reply.

"Please, Flaky! You have to help me out of here! I'm not insane!" the periwinkle anteater pleaded. He heard footsteps walking away, but instead of disappointment, Sniffles felt puzzled. Flaky's steps were usually small and quick. With Flaky being mortally scared of everything, from a dry leaf to a shark, her footsteps fitted her timid personality. These steps, however, had long breaks in between and when they landed, a heavy _thud_ was heard. Sniffles mind began to race.

Several hours later, Sniffles was staring at the ceiling of his cell, trying desperately to sleep. The cell was bitter cold and the concrete bench provided no help. Sniffles shivered and curled up into a ball, more tears fell down his cheeks. _Why did they do this to me? Lumpy and Mole are my friends! Well…were my friends. I wonder how Toothy is doing. I'd give my first edition 'SSSSSuper Squad' comic to see _anyone._ Even the Ant Family…they're probably wondering why I haven't disturbed them in a few days. I wonder if they've even noticed I'm gone…. _

Sniffles shook his head, clearing any thoughts about missing the Ants. Those cursed bugs were the cause of most of his deaths. Not only that, every time they could, the Ant Family would _torture_ him! Once they made him put his precious tongue into a document shedder! Sniffles shuddered, remembering that painful day, he still had nightmares. Sniffles suddenly thought of something. If he were to die right now, he would wake up in his bed back home! Sniffles sat up and looked around, there wasn't much more than concrete and a few cracks in the walls. No stupid blue moose to accidently kill him either. Sniffles' brilliant mind began trying to find ways he could kill himself within the small cell. After dismissing a few outrageous ideas, he was jolted out of thoughts as a fist banged the outside of Sniffles' cell.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" a voiced boomed, echoed by the concrete, "You are outside the town's perimeters, if you die now, you die permanently." The voice was deep. Sniffles immediately recognized it.

"S-Splendid?" he stuttered. But there was no response. And this time, there were no footsteps.

So they were outside the town, Sniffles smiled, as stupid as the town seemed at times, it was quite clever to put an asylum outside of the cursed grounds. _But how did he know I intended to kill myself?_ _Mind reading isn't one of Splendid's many powers…or was that even Splendid?_ Sniffles thought hard, the voice he heard matched the deepness of Splendid's to a T, but there was something about it that didn't seem right…something cold…

The next morning, Sniffles was jolted from his uneasy sleep by a tray being kicked through the metal flap. Sniffles rubbed his eyes, examined his cracked glasses, and slipped them onto his face. The tray of food consisted of: A cold biscuit, a fruit cup (which was inedible considering Sniffles was allergic to peaches), a small bottle of water, and a few dry crackers. Sniffles sighed, for a mental institute they really treated their patients like prisoners, Sniffles hadn't seen anyone for 36 hours…oops, 37 hours now. Sniffles was keeping track of time by scratching nicks into the wall, but he couldn't be sure, he was only going off of what times the meals came, and when he slept and awoke. Sniffles munched on the biscuit and tried opening the metal flap again to see outside his cell but the trap remained shut.

Soon after eating his "breakfast" a small click was heard and the cell door swung open. A figure stepped into the room and Sniffles blinked, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Standing in his cell was Splendid the super squirrel. He looked exactly the same in every way…except one: His colors were…opposite.

"Splendid? Is that you?" Sniffles said almost happily. The red squirrel glared at Sniffles,

"Don't call me that." Was all the squirrel said, his voice commanding and harsh. He motioned for Sniffles to follow him; Sniffles leapt off the bench and eagerly followed "Splendid". The hall outside his cell was the virtually same as inside, concrete walls and floors, and cracks everywhere you looked. Sniffles was beginning to wonder if this was really an asylum. He wasn't even sure the town had an asylum until he was arrested. The super squirrel was floating slightly off the ground as he glided quickly down the hall and Sniffles had a hard time keeping up with him. The squirrel didn't seem too friendly, and it took Sniffles a while to muster up the courage to say something.

"S-so if you're not Splendid. Then who are you?" Sniffles finally blurted out. The red squirrel came to a halt and stared daggers at the anteater. Behind his blue mask, his pupils were small, black, and soul-piercing.

"If you _ever_ mention that name again…" The squirrel took a deep breath and his face became slightly less hostile, "Unless you want to go back to your cell and _rot, _don't ever say that name!"

Sniffles' courage grew stronger, "Then what can I call you?" The squirrel stared at him.

"Splendon't"

* * *

Splendid was pacing, well, _floating_ across the room. The small group stared at him, waiting eagerly for an explanation.

"Splendid, you can either float around that table all night, or tell us what the hell is going on!" Flippy said, irritation tinting his voice. Splendid floated a few more laps around the long conference table and finally landed to his feet. When he spoke, his voice was small, timid and was on the verge of stuttering.

"I prayed many times that this day would never come, but it seems luck does not play in my favor."

"I'll say." Pop rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying," Splendid said, "we have a very serious problem on our hands. Sniffles hasn't been sent to a mental institute."

"Then where be the young lad?" Russell asked in his coarse pirate accent.

"Sniffles has been kidnapped." Splendid said plainly. The small group of six gasped simultaneously (except for Lumpy, who was busy wondering what flavor a comb was).

"B-but, who would kidnap Sniffles?" Mole stuttered, this time he was facing a chair in the nearest corner.

"Somebody who needs a genius, I suppose." Flippy said in a flat voice.

"But why is that of concern to us? Sniffles is smart enough to know that he just needs to find a way to get himself killed and he'll be sent back to his house." Pop pointed out.

"That's the worst part;" Splendid said grimly, "Sniffles was most likely taken outside of town. If he dies now, he dies permanently." There was a moment of shocked silence, as the group tried to wrap their minds around eternal death. None of them had even considered being able to die permanently. It was noticed that along with regeneration, ever since they moved there, they had not aged a day. Everyone in town was so used to immortality by now.

"Then what the heck are we standing around here for? We have to save him!" Toothy screamed.

"No!" Pop snapped, "It's too risky! All of us could die out there!"

"That's why I'm going alone." Splendid said. Everyone stared unbelieving at the flying squirrel.

"Are you insane?" Russell yelled, "You'll catch ye death out there as well as the rest o' us!"

"Russell is right; we're not letting you do this alone!" The Mole agreed.

"I refuse to put any of you in danger. It would go against everything I've lived for." Splendid said plainly.

"Splendid has a point. He's pretty much indestructible! I say we let him handle this." Pop said.

"Pop! This is _Sniffles_ we're talking about! How can you be so heartless?" Toothy yelled.

"It's better for just him to die than all of us!" Pop screamed back.

"Sniffles is the one who helped you rescue Cub when he fell down that well!"

"Yeah, and got himself killed in the process!" This went on for about ten minutes, bitter arguing between bear and beaver.

A loud _crack_ was heard as something slammed against the town hall's table. But instead of Splendid's super powered fist, a large Bowie knife stuck out from the middle of the table, large cracks jutted out from where the tip of the knife made impact. Toothy and Pop were immediately silenced.

"This is getting us no where!" Flippy shouted as he yanked his knife out of the table. "No one will go alone; to go alone means certain death. We will form a rescue team. The best of the best in town, and we will go outside the forest and kill the damned bastard that kidnapped Sniffles! Now all of you, help me gather the town together for a meeting!"

His voice was so commanding and harsh, the rest of the Tree Friends nearly thought Fliqpy had taken over. Flippy's cursing was no rare occurrence but it still made the group feel uncomfortable and embarrassed, especially Toothy, who was a child when he moved here, only recently had he tried to drop his ignorant habits. Lumpy couldn't be bothered by all this as he was busy rummaging through a near by desk drawer for a comb. No one dared argued with Flippy, even Splendid, who had a new found respect for the war veteran, and they silently filed out of town hall and into the rainy night.

An hour later, everyone in town was gathered in the large room of town hall. Noisy questions buzzed through the air as everyone stood dazed after being woken up abruptly by rapid knocks on their doors. The town was unusually small, with only 21 residents and minus one nerdy anteater, they all fit in the room with ease. The chatter quieted down as Splendid stood on top of the table and called for attention.

"I apologize for calling you all here at such a late hour, but this is urgent!" Splendid shouted.

"What is this all about? I'm missing my shows!" Giggles shouted.

"A town resident has been kidnapped, and we need to form an emergency search and rescue party." Splendid said simply. Chatter rose from the group again as they tried to figure out whom was missing from the crowd. It didn't take long for them to notice the geeky anteater's absence and the racket grew louder.

"Sniffles has been kidnapped? I thought he was arrested!" Handy yelled.

"I thought he was just studying for a week straight again!" Petunia shouted.

"He was just hiding from Flippy, wasn't he?" Disco Bear asked.

"This comb tastes funny!" Lumpy exclaimed. Splendid called for silence once again and the chatter ceased.

"Focus everyone! This is an emergency!" Splendid pleaded, "The group will be lead by me; we will need about four others." The crowd remained silent. After a few awkward minutes, a small voice in the back of the room spoke up.

"I-I'm one of Sniffles best friends. P-Plus, I'm pretty good with a first aid kit." It was Flaky, the petrified porcupine.

"Great! We have a medic!" Splendid tried to sound determined. A hand rose from the back. "Yes, Mime?" The purple deer's hands moved rapidly in a strange sign language that everyone was used to. 'I have strong hearing and smell. I could track Sniffles.' Mime signed, keeping his words simple.

"Excellent! We have a tracker!" Splendid exclaimed. Flippy stepped forward, snapped his heels together and straightened his shoulders. When he spoke, his voice was back to his normal soft and kind tone.

"My kind of experience may prove helpful if we need to battle." Flippy said very seriously. Splendid nodded thoughtfully. Finally, Lumpy spoke.

"I'll join your party!" He yelled.

"NO!" Everyone yelled at once and Lumpy shuffled back to the crowd, disappointed. After a few moments, Mole stepped forward, his oversized, purple turtle neck covering most of his mouth and his purple glasses hiding his blind eyes.

"I may not seem fit for the job. But stealth is my specialty." Behind his glasses, Mole's dimmed eyes seemed to light up with past memories and a thin smile formed on his face.

"That's it then! Flaky, Mime, Flippy, and Mole, go home get prepared. We leave at dawn!" Splendid yelled, "And to the rest of the town, we will have your anteater friend back by tomorrow! But for now, I advise you to protect your belongings, if this town becomes a battle field I want you all prepared." Toothy suddenly hopped up on the table, the table cracking slightly under his weight.

"Let's make this town as indestructible as the idol itself! For Sniffles!" he shouted.

"SNIFFLES!" The crowd responded, and they quickly scattered, leaving Splendid standing alone in town hall.

_I pray this works, because if it doesn't, this town is as good as gone_

* * *

**So a search party is formed. Is this search party really to best of the best, or is Splendid making a big mistake? What does Splendon't have in store for Sniffles?**

**Lumpy likes combs.**

**Muffin: Don't forget to review! I'm bored to death over here...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. Well, this story may slow down a little, as I really want to work on The Perfect Cookie. For which I still need O.C's so feel free to submit yours!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sniffles and Splendon't had traveled down the concrete hallway for about ten minutes now and Sniffles was struggling more than ever to keep up with the floating squirrel, who wasn't even winded. Along the way Sniffles noticed something odd: There were no more rooms. Other than his cell Sniffles had seen no other rooms whatsoever, only cracks and concrete. Sniffles suspicions only grew when they reached the end of the long corridor. A very large metal door was the only thing in sight and Sniffles was very reluctant to go inside. It didn't take a genius to know something was wrong and Sniffles had a horrible feeling that something was terribly wrong. Splendon't pulled open the extremely heavy door as if it were the door to a doll house, and signaled Sniffles to go inside. Sniffles, trying to muster all the courage he could, took a few steps through the door. What he saw left him speechless.

Inside the door was a very large room perhaps twice the size of his own lab back home. Different inventions and gizmos of all sizes bordered the walls and large, highly advanced scientific machines sat in the center. Buttons flashed and data streamed through the screens in a high pitched crackling noise. Sniffles gasped, he had never seen this much technology in one place. He took another step forward but stopped. He realized the reason for never seeing this kind of technology. The machines were highly advanced, yes, but the style of the machines gave hint to what they were purposed to do: _Animal Experimentation_. Sniffles had read stories about medicine being tested on lab rats but the chambers on these machines were much too large to only be used for rats. Sniffles wondered what they could be for when a chilling thought left him pale: Each chamber was about four feet high. Everyone in town, excluding Lumpy, was about three feet tall.

Sniffles suddenly realized he'd been tricked, this wasn't a mental institute, and he wasn't crazy, this was a lab of "Dark Science" as Sniffles called it: the study and torture of animals and living beings. Sniffles stared pale faced at the ominous equipment and when Splendon't spoke, his voice had turned back to the harsh, evil tone.

"I suppose you've finally realized you've been tricked." Splendon't smirked, "For a genius you sure are slow."

"W-why do you have this…this stuff?" Sniffles asked without turning, he refused to turn his back to this evil machinery.

"Well, if I am to finally rid myself of that cursed blue squirrel I need equipment to destroy him with. Unfortunately I've spent most of my life perfecting my powers and know next to nothing about how to work these machines." Splendon't growled, as if Sniffles were to blame for his lack of knowledge.

"If you think I'll touch any of these machines, you-"_Thwack! _Sniffles turned halfway and was met by a powerful underhanded fist. It connected in the dead center of Sniffles mouth and nose and sent him flying across the room where he slammed into the far wall and fell to the ground, knocking a few gadgets of a table. Sniffles screamed in pain and felt white hot pain throbbing against his head, and for a few moments, the impact of the super punch rendered him unconscious. When he awoke, Sniffles head spun and he tasted blood. When he coughed, blood splattered the ground followed by a few teeth. Sniffles groaned in pain and clutched his head, he opened his eyes slowly and saw that a large crack had appeared in the left lens of his glasses. Splendon't slowly floated over to the anteater, who had tried standing up, only to fall back to the ground in agony.

"Unless you want to die permanently, I suggest you do what I want." Splendon't growled as he glared at the cowering anteater, Sniffles responded by coughing up more blood.

"Get up." The super squirrel commanded. Sniffles struggled to his feet, using the wall as balance, and stared fearfully at Splendon't, but that only seemed to make the squirrel pleased. Splendon't hovered casually over to a massive machine in the dead center of the room and pressed a large button. A once hidden glass chamber rose from the center of the machine. This glass tube was about half the size of the others but seemed much more important, considering it was so well protected. Sniffles gathered his thoughts and tried to control his fear. As the tube ascended, a faint green pulsing glow could be seen and it was revealed to be a small rock. The rock was roughly the size of a large grapefruit and was polished to the point where the whole lab was reflected in it. Sniffles stared at the stone and for a split second, his pain and fear were replaced by curiosity.

"This is KryptoNut." Splendon't began, "It is the only substance in this world that can finally destroy Splendid once and for all!" His voice grew in volume as he spoke and a malicious shine flared in his eyes. Sniffles froze in shock. _H-he wants to destroy Splendid? Why would he do that? I've never even seen this guy in town before!_ Sniffles thought as a fresh wave of panic overcame him.

"I met that waste of a superhero before he moved to your pathetic town. He thought a cursed town would be perfect for his useless little 'rescues.'" Splendon't sneered. Sniffles flinched in surprised, then remembered that Splendon't could read his mind. He began to concentrate on blocking his thoughts from the blue masked squirrel by thinking in pictures and symbols. It didn't seem to work.

"Now," Splendon't suddenly grabbed Sniffles by the back of his neck and pushed him violently towards the rock chamber. "I need you to construct a weapon, something I can direct at Splendid and Splendid alone. That won't recoil the stones power back on me."

"…And if I refuse?" Sniffles whispered, panic threatening to overtake him.

"I thought I made that clear by sending you across the room." Splendon't's voice was harsh, "I guess you need something else to convince you." The look of sheer terror on the anteaters face brought an evil smile to the villain's lips. "Tell me, Sniffles was it? Do you value the lives of your friends? I believe I overheard you say something about a 'Flaky'?" Sniffles legs began to shake and Splendon't's grin widened. "If you do as I ask, I might consider enslaving this pitiful town instead of destroying it as first planned." Sniffles' legs nearly buckled and he was on the verge of hyperventilation, he nodded his head rapidly.

"Excellent. I shall return in the morning. I expect the device done by then." With that, the red squirrel flew rapidly out of the room, slamming the cell door behind him and a loud _clunk_ was heard as a large lock was set in place. Sniffles wasted no time and began hurriedly making blueprints for Splendon't's request. It went against every moral fiber in his body to work with these horrific machines, but if it meant just a chance of saving the town…. He worked into the night.

The sun rose silently over the small town and Splendid yawned as he stepped out of the town hall. With his own home far from the main roads and the storm breaking late at night, he had taken refuge in the town hall. He glanced around the town to see if the citizens had taken his advice and protected their homes. What Splendid saw was complete chaos. The bodies of the town's residents littered the streets. Russell was impaled through the head to a large tree by a two-by-four, and Nutty had mistaken a box of small nails for a box of candies and now lay in the street with blood pooling from his gaping mouth. Petunia had a large drill jammed through her left eye socket, the blade still spinning, and Handy had the misfortune of falling head first from a roof onto a table saw. Toothy, burnt to a crisp, lay facedown in a large puddle of water with a down telephone wire still shuddering with electricity. And Pop was fumbling with a bandage, trying to stop Cub's severed hand from bleeding out. In the middle of everything, Lumpy sat hammering a plastic bucket, several nails protruding from his antlers.

Splendid sighed, he knew that the town would revive in a few hours but that didn't mean they couldn't feel pain. Out of the corner of his eye, Splendid saw four figures running towards him. Flippy was the first to reach the city hall, he had a cameo patterned backpack almost bursting at the seams with all sorts of military camping equipment and a belt strapped to his waist with knives of every shape and size (Flippy had never been one for guns). The Mole came tapping up next, the only thing different about the blind mole was his shiny black shoes and a purple plaid turtle neck. Mime ran up the file of stairs without a word, carrying a small vial of a clear liquid and a belt similar to Flippy, except there was nothing in the straps. Last came Flaky, who was carefully walking up the steps for fear of falling down them, she had a backpack slightly larger than Flippy's that was filled with bandages, gauze, disinfectant, needles, scalpels, and everything else you could possibly think of. In her hand she carried another small first aid kit. Splendid smiles and welcomed his friends.

"Thank you for arriving so early. I'm happy to see you all are not a part of that bloody mess." Splendid nodded towards the town center. Flippy glanced at the destruction and began to sweat. _The enemies have slaughtered our allies, kill the squirrel. _The voice echoed. Flippy shook the thought away. "W-well let's get this show on the road. We have to save Sniffles!" The war bear stuttered. Everyone nodded in agreement and set off for the forest, leaving behind the bloody town to regenerate itself.

The group was at the edge of the forest, the grass and leaves were still moist from the morning dew and smells of the forest were everywhere. A large dirt path weaved into the trees with stale tire tracks following.

"We must have taken this road, after we arrested Sniffles it wasn't long before the road turned rocky. And this is the closest path out of the forest to Sniffles' house." The Mole informed. Mime's ears perked and he quickly signed: _Hear pulsing._ And he pointed down the path.

"Well then, let's go!" Flippy began to walk down the path but was stopped by a blue hand on his shoulder. He turned to see that Splendid was pale, his face fear stricken.

"Everyone, once we enter this forest there is a good possibility you could all die permanently. I will make one last attempt to beg you to leave now and let me handle this. Please." A moment of silence followed as the team considered this.

"No way Splendid, like I said, to go alone would mean certain death even for you." Flippy smiled.

"I'll die out there, if only to live my memories once again." Mole's glasses caught the sunlight.

_Not giving up without a fight._ Mime signaled with a determined grin.

"W-we have to save Sniffles. I-I'm seeing this through to the end." Flaky tried to sound strong. Tears threatened to shine in Splendid's eyes as he beamed. "When I came to this town I thought I would be saving helpless townspeople. After eleven ageless years I've found it harder and harder to manage after I've messed up and killed someone. I guess that reason is because I'm not saving helpless townspeople anymore, I'm saving my friends." With new determination to save the nerdy anteater, the group of four, led by the red-masked super squirrel, they took their first steps into the forest, leaving their immortality behind them.

Sniffles was panicking, it was almost dawn and he was still programming the device. He had taken the KryptoNut stone and embedded it deep into a gun shaped weapon. The gadget was about as long as two loafs of bread and was surprisingly light. Sniffles had no time to come up with a creative design, so he based the general shape off of the freeze ray he had used on Fliqpy. His hands fumbled as he struggled to keep them from shaking as he carefully set the obscure amount of wires into their right places. "Blue…red….blue….green…blue…yellow…green….red….red….yellow…" Sniffles whispered to himself as he tried to pick out the individual colored wires "red….blue….blue….blue…green….." Sniffles stopped suddenly at the last two wires, which were colored yellow and green. He knew where each went, but something told Sniffles to not connect them just yet. Normally, Sniffles being an animal of science, did not believe in "omens" or "gut feelings" but something at this moment went against everything Sniffles believed as the periwinkle anteater crossed the two remaining wires. Sniffles sighed in relief as he screwed the last bolt into place. He had finished. A sudden _clunk _from the door lock sounded as Sniffles realized: _only just._

* * *

**So Splendon'ts plan is revealed! Will fear rule Sniffles' mind or will he keep his cool?**

**Muffin: Don't forget to review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally! Cheezits, I didn't think it would take this long to write this chapter!**

**Muffin: Did you just say "Cheezits"?**

**Don't judge me, would you rather me curse? **

**Muffin: It's better than "cheezits".**

**...Get back to your story.**

**Muffin: Fine, enjoy everyone!**

* * *

The team had been trudging along the winding dirt path for ten minutes now and The Mole kept insisting that they were nearly there. Flippy seemed to have a spring in his step as he recalled the camping trips he used to have with his good friends from war, and ignored the evil voice in his head urging him to slaughter his teammates. Mole was nearly walking on tiptoe, this was the most silent forest he'd ever been in, and he didn't like it when it was too quiet around. Mime was concentrating hard, his sharp ears flicked back and forth and his nostrils flared as he tried to pick up anything related to the anteater. Splendid was deep in thought as he glided down the path, his feet dangling two feet above the ground. Flaky, on the other hand, was scared out of her mind. What if a tree fell and crushed her? What if a bird decided to come along and peck her eyes out? Or what if Flippy flipped out and killed everyone? Or maybe bear would appear and maul her? Or what about that bush? That was a very suspicious looking bush just now!

Mime flinched and signaled for the group to stop. The purple deer cocked his head to one side and listened intently. He slowly signaled: _Screaming…Sniffles...we are close…_ Mime pointed down the winding path and he was right, the path had begun to grow thinner. The group broke out in a jog and turned the last corner with enthusiasm.

Flaky nearly turned tail and ran away when she saw the building they had to enter. The structure was large, very large, it was blandly shaped as Mole thought it resembled a hollowed out cinderblock. And indeed it did, the rectangular building was made completely out of concrete and had very few windows, and the few it did were shattered. Large cracks could be seen where the weathered building had given in to nature. The forest surrounding the building looked out of place next to the cold gray of the concrete. Flaky began to shake violently; she was scared of large buildings, especially ones with cracks in them.

_The screaming was coming from here._ Mime signed.

"Perhaps we should make a plan before entering, you never know what could-"Flippy was cut off as a loud pulsing noise pounded against everyone's eardrums and Mime nearly fell to the ground in agony.

"There's no time, Sniffles could die at any moment." Splendid said after the pulsing ceased. The group hardly had time to think as Splendid launched him self into the air and rammed through the large double doors of the building at full speed. Flippy and Mole wasted no time and quickly followed the super squirrel. Mime on the other hand had to drag Flaky by her feet through the doors and into the building.

"This place is like a maze! We'll never find Sniffles!" Flippy exclaimed as he stared at the multitude of concrete hallways. Mime looked offended. Splendid said nothing. Flaky shivered. Mole tapped in front of him. Mime suddenly cocked his head and flicked his ears, then pointed at a large hallway to the left of him. He began to run, and the team soon followed. About five minutes down the hallway, the group came upon an opened cell. Splendid peered in carefully, prepared for anything unexpected, but the room was vacant except for tallied scratches on the wall and a green pen lying on a bench. Flaky saw this and quickly ran in to the cell, snatched the pen, and ran back out before a shadow monster of some sort could eat her.

"I-I recognize this pen, Sniffles always carries it with him in his pocket protector." Flaky whispered, eyeing the pen carefully.

"Looks like we're on the right path then, Sniffles must have been taken down this hall." Mole stated the obvious. The group began jogging quickly down the hallway, leaving the abandoned cell behind. Ten minutes later the group stopped to catch their breaths. In front of them, the hallway ended at a large metal door. A strong pulsing noise could be heard from inside.

"Alright team, are you ready?" Splendid whispered. The group nodded vigorously, "Alright then let's….GO!" Splendid smashed through the metal door with a super charged punch and the door groaned in protest as it fell. The group filed into the room at once and saw a horrific sight. The room was decorated with dark looking machines and glass chambers. In the center of the room Sniffles was curled up in fetal position, cowering from a red squirrel hovering above him. Sniffles' glasses were badly cracked and blood was pouring from his mouth. Multiple red marks and bruises showed where the squirrel had punched him and blood was oozing from deep scratches embedded into his back. A strange gun lay next to the wounded anteater.

"I knew it was you, Splendon't." Splendid said coldly. The blue masked squirrel turned and smiled evilly at Splendid.

"So, you managed to make it here. And look, you brought your little friends, too scared to face me alone?" Splendon't laughed and Splendid glared at the hovering squirrel. Flippy took this moment to glance quickly around the room; there was nothing obvious that could set off his evil side, Flaky was pale and shaking as always, Mime had a focused glare, and Mole was….wait, where was Mole? Flippy was snapped out of his thoughts as Splendon't cackled manically and he yanked the wounded Sniffles to his feet by the back of his neck. Sniffles gave a yelp in pain, suddenly noticed his rescuers and nearly screamed when he saw Splendid. Behind Splendid were Flippy, Mime, and Flaky. Sniffles was about to warn Splendid to get out of here when Splendon't pressed his hand down on Sniffles head, clawing in as he did so. Sniffles winced and Splendon't mumbled something under his breath. Sniffles suddenly tensed up; behind his glasses Sniffles' pupils grew large and dulled to a light gray. Splendon't frowned.

"Strange, that should have killed him." He growled. Flaky flinched. _H-he just tried to kill Sniffles? _She thought. Flaky was terrified of countless things, but her greatest fear, a fear topping all the others, was losing her friends. All sense of logic left the red porcupine as she launched herself at Splendon't, screaming at the top of her lungs. The red squirrel simply laughed and grabbed Flaky by her wrist, and twisted. Flaky screamed in pain. Mime, Flippy, and Splendid hardly had time to think before a purple blur appeared out of nowhere, knocking Splendon't to the ground and allowing Flaky to escape from his iron grasp. The Mole landed gracefully next to Splendid and drew his aiming stick like a sword. Splendid stared dumbfounded at him.

"W-where did you come from?" The blue squirrel stuttered. Behind his dark purple glasses The Mole winked one blind eye and Splendid couldn't help but smile. Splendon't pushed himself off the concrete floor, an angry scowl on his face. He pointed one red finger at the blind mole and green bolt of crackling lightning shot from his finger at amazing speed. Splendid had hardly turned to push Mole out of the way when the lightning bolt struck the end of Mole's aiming stick. The Mole quickly spun on his heel and heaved the stick like a spear at the angered super villain. Splendon't knocked the lighting infused rod out of the air like a toothpick and launched himself at The Mole. Meanwhile, Flaky and Mime were by Sniffles' side, urging him to come out of his statue-like trance.

"C'mon Sniffles! Snap out of it, we need your help!" Flaky was once again near tears and Mime was shaking Sniffles' shoulders, but the anteaters pupils remained an ashy gray. Flippy and Splendid met Splendon't halfway to the blind mole in a fury of knife attacks and laser-vision beams, yet the red squirrel easily dodged each swing of a blade and the lasers bounced off of him like marshmallows would.

_You can't win, your too weak, let me take control._ The voice in Flippy's head echoed. Flippy's vision began to blur. _Never! You'll kill my friends!_ He thought back. The voice simply laughed and retreated back into Flippy's mind. This had distracted the war bear long enough for Splendon't to kick him across the room, the war veteran flew at least twenty feet and landed with large _crash_ onto a small machine that was possibly used for needle injections to animals. Flippy lay unconscious and unmoving in the rubble of twisted metal.

"War veteran, humph, his mind is more screwed up than anything I've ever seen." Splendon't growled. New found anger began to swell inside Splendid as connected his right fist with Splendon't's cheek bone. Splendon't was sent flying but caught himself midair.

"Enough of this!" The red squirrel roared, he flew down to where Flaky and Mime were still attempting to awaken Sniffles, and grabbed Mime by an antler. Mime opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out, he dropped the glass vial he was carrying and it plummeted to the concrete floor, shattering into several pieces. A very strong smell of lavender and jade perfumed the thick air. Splendon't lifted Mime by the antler into the air, laughing as Mime struggled in his grasp. Green crackling lightning spun around Splendon't's free hand as he pointed at Mime's temple.

"Stand down, Splendid. I will not hesitate to plaster this deer's head all over the walls." A horrified look spread across Mime's face and he struggled even more violently. Flaky screamed shrilly and Splendid glared at the opposite squirrel. The Mole, on the other hand, had was having trouble trying to dislodge the knocked out war bear from the scraps of metal. The smell of lavender still hung in the air as Sniffles began to stir.

"Ugh…W-what's going on?" Sniffles mumbled as he sat up adjusting his cracked glasses. Flaky threw her arms around the nerdy anteater and began to sob. Sniffles glanced up and nearly screamed at the sight of Mime and Splendon't

Still grasping Mime by his right antler, Splendon't floated over to a sci-fi looking gun lying on the floor below him. He threw Mime across the room, after landing, Mime slid head first into the cement wall causing his right antler to snap in half. Splendon't grinned evilly and pointed the gun at Splendid.

"Your anteater friend forgot to mention what he built for me. This gun is embedded with the all too rare stone, KryptoNut." Splendon't snarled. Splendid suddenly went pale.

"That's right, _old friend_, this room is where your last moments will be. For your little friends, too."

Mime sat up and rubbed his head, after realizing the absence of his antler, the deer felt near tears. He suddenly noticed the thick lavender smell and that Sniffles had awakened. A thin smile spread across the mute deer's face, he had completely forgotten about the vial. He looked up to see Splendon't with his firm grip on the trigger of a gun pointed at Splendid. Flaky screamed again and feebly threw a twisted piece of metal at the red squirrel; it struck his slightly curved tail, ripping out several crimson hairs.

"Why you little…." Splendon't snarled and made a grab for Flaky's neck. Terrified beyond belief, Flaky instinctively dropped to the ground in fear. Splendon't had no time to stop and his outstretched hand was pierced by Flaky's exposed quills. The red squirrel screamed in pain and ripped his impaled hand off of Flaky's back. Three quills remained sticking out of his palm and he simply incinerated them with green electricity.

"You're going to pay for that you pathetic girl!" Splendon't roared. He pointed a finger at the porcupine and green lightning shot from his hand. At the last possible second, the lightning was absorbed by an outstretched blue hand. Flaky opened her eyes to see Splendid hovering protectively in front of her, a determined glare etched behind his red mask.

"Still trying to be the hero, Splendid? Fine then, let's see how _heroic_ you are after this!" Splendon't howled and pointed the gun at the blue squirrel. Splendid refused to move as Splendon't squeezed the trigger. The gun shuddered and a green glowing orb appeared in the center of the funnel-like barrel, it pulsed madly and Mime clutched his ears in pain. The orb grew steadily, but once it readied itself to fire, it vanished. Splendon't clicked the trigger multiple times and the gun shuddered violently.

"What the-"_BOOM!_ The gun exploded in Splendon't's hand. Normally, explosions would have no affect on the super squirrel, but this explosion was fueled by KryptoNut. Unbeknown to the others, Splendon't was Splendid's mirror copy, created after a mishap in Earth's orbit many years before Splendid moved to Happy Tree Town. Splendon't was nearly identical to Splendid in everyway, including weaknesses. Shards of KryptoNut imbedded themselves into Splendon't's skin and pulsed with unnatural power. Splendon't screamed in horror and fell to the ground, all essence of his powers leaving him. Green powder began to fill the air, seeing this; Sniffles began to push Splendid and the others towards the door.

"Sniffles, what are you doing? You need to come with us!" Splendid coughed, feeling nausious, the powder was spreading quickly. Sniffles shook his head.

"This place needs to be destroyed, trust me; I'll catch up with you." Sniffles smiled and shut the iron door on his friends, leaving only himself and an unconscious Splendon't in the room. Outside the door, Splendid was struggling to open the door, but his powers were faltering.

"Splendid, we need to get out of here, Sniffles is right, we need to trust him." The Mole urged, with a still passed out Flippy flung over his left shoulder. This was all Flaky needed to hear and she ran as fast as she could down the concrete hall, leaving behind red broken quills and specks of dandruff. Mime gave Splendid a worried, pleading look and took off after Flaky. Splendid turned to look for Mole, hoping to persuade him not to leave, but the purple mole had vanished once again along with Flippy. Splendid was recovering his powers already; he cast one last look at the metal door.

"You'd better be right Sniffles." He said into the concrete and blasted down the hall as fast as his recovering powers could carry him.

Inside the room, Sniffles was fumbling with the center machine. After a few minutes of sorting a mangled mass of thick wires, he connected the two main wires together. The machine shivered and a high pitched screech echoed through the room. Connecting the two main wires would eventually over heat the machine, and a contraption this size could blow up even the sturdiest of buildings. Sniffles ran for the door but looked back; Splendon't was still unconscious on the concrete floor, with blood seeping out of where the shards of KryptoNut had made impact. Sniffles sighed and hoped he wouldn't regret what he was about to do.

Flaky was first to burst through the double doors and into the fresh air and brightness of the forest, and she immediately fell to her knees trying to catch her breath. Splendid blasted through the doors next, knocking them off their hinges. A few seconds later, Mime appeared at the doorway, panting inaudibly.

"Where's…gasp….Mole and Flippy?" Splendid panted.

"Right here." Mole said. Splendid looked up to see him standing next to Flaky with Flippy still slung on his left shoulder. Flaky peered over her shoulder and flinched as The Mole set Flippy down beside her.

"W-where did you come from?" She stuttered. The Mole simply smiled and said nothing.

"Back away from the building everyone! I have a bad feeling about what that anteater is going to do." Splendid warned and urged everyone to the edge of the forest. For a few minutes, the group watched the building in anticipation; the forest was utterly silent, as if it too was waiting for something.

A deafening roar blasted from the weak concrete building. Smoke and twisted pieces of red hot metal erupted from the blown apart concrete roof of the structure. Splendid quickly incinerated bits of stray rubble that flew too close to the group with his powerful laser vision. Flaky screamed once again and Flippy suddenly snapped awake. The rumbling stopped as suddenly as it happened, leaving nothing of the building but the first floor and a few crumbling walls of concrete. A few pieces of twisted metal and bits of powdered cement struck the ground, warning the group not to get too close. Splendid ignored these hazardous warnings and flew to the smoldering rubble and began lifting huge chunks of concrete.

"Urrg…W-what happened?" Flippy mumbled.

"You were knocked out by Splendon't. We escaped the building right before it exploded." Mole explained.

"And Sniffles? Did we save him?" Flippy swayed as he got to his feet. No one gave an answer, they simply didn't have one. Splendid was tossing chunks of concrete more rapidly.

"C'mon Sniffles…you said you'd be okay….." He kept mumbling. The Mole and Flippy began moving smaller pieces of cement, far away from Splendid, hoping to find any sign of the anteater or the red squirrel. Flaky was struggling to get Flippy to hold still as she wrapped bandages around his arms and gashed back.

"Flaky I'm fine…Ouch! That hurts!" Flippy growled and tried to push the porcupine away, but Flaky was determined and tackled Flippy, armed with a bottle of disinfectant and a roll of gauze.

Splendid suddenly ceased his desperate digging through the rubble of concrete. He had his back to the group who looked at him hopefully. Splendid hovered slowly to the bottom of the debris and came up holding something in his gray dusted hands. He floated over to Flippy and Flaky who craned to see what Splendid was holding, and Mime and Mole abandoned their search and ran over to the blue squirrel. In Splendid's hands was a mangled piece of dark blue metal, only it wasn't from any of the blown up machines. It was twisted badly and only a few pieces of shattered glass remained in the frame, but there was no mistaking what it was. Sniffles' glasses.

* * *

**Muffin: That's it! Let me in the story!**

**No! Get back to your own story! You have "perfect" cookies to deal with, remember?**

**Muffin: But Sniffles is going to be ok, right?**

**...**

**Muffin: R-reviews are greatly appreciated.**


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